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<P>Valuable Information Contained in Letters Relative to JAMES and
</P></B></FONT><FONT face=Tahoma>
<P>Jan. 24, 1971</P>
<P>Mrs. Mary Mallett</P>
<P>Gresham, Oregon 97030</P>
<P>Dear Mrs. Mallett:</P>
<P></P>
<P>Mrs. Harvey McAllister was telling me her mother married a Powell, your
brother, Oscar Alfred Powell.</P>
<P></P>
<P>The mother of my husband, Walter Kittredge, was Mary Powell whose father was
James Powell of Powell Valley. Mary Powell married Franklin Kittredge at the
home of James Powell on August 27, 1862 by Rev. Clinton Kelly of the M.E.
Church.</P>
<P>I have been so interested in knowing more about the Powell families. I know
Aunt Louise Stevens, and also sisters Dora, Myrtle, Della and Nettie Williamson.
I met Rose and Irene Brandess and the Dolan sisters.</P>
<P></P>
<P>Franklin Kittredge passed away at Silver Lake, Oregon Feb. 7, 1899, Mary J.
Kittredge passed away at Ashland, Oregon Feb. 5, 1911.</P>
<P>One of my sons has the Kittredge Bible. I would be happy to copy the records
if you would like them, and also more of the Kittredge families.</P>
<P>I have met Mrs. Nettie Mitschelm, who is living at… Tigard, Oregon.</P>
<P>Mrs. McAllister was telling me you are writing the Powell history which will
be most interesting.</P>
<P></P>
<P>I copied the obituary of James Powell as follows: " James Powell died July
12, 1896 at Long Beach, California. He came to Oregon in 1851. He and his
brothers were the first to make their way into Powell’s Valley. He left his
widow Eliza and 11 grown children."</P>
<P>I hope this will be a help to you. I would like to meet you.</P>
<P>Best of wishes.</P>
<P>Sincerely,</P>
<P>Maude E. Kittredge</P>
<P>Bend, Oregon 97701</P>
<P>February 13, 1971</P>
<P>Dear Mrs. Mallett:</P>
<P></P>
<P>I was so happy to receive you letter, and I hope what I am enclosing will
help you. </P>
<P>I didn’t know the father Kittredge or the mother Kittredge-I didn’t know the
family until 1912. Walter and I married September 26,1914 and we had three boys,
Walter Duglas, born June 17, 1919; Franklin, born February 21, 1922. died
February 21, 1922; Jack Leston, October 5, 1923. If you want more about their
families, I can send it.</P>
<P>… Lota Wallace told me that the mother Kittredge (Mary J. Powell) was a
daughter from a first marriage. He married Eliza and had the large family. …
</P>
<P>Best of wishes,</P>
<P>Maude E. Kittredge </P>
<P>Bend, Oregon 97701</P><B>
<P>Death of Mrs. M. J. Kittredge (Mary J. Powell)</P>
<P></P>
<P></B>"Mrs. Mary J Kittredge passed at the home of her daughter, Mrs. C. D.
Porter, 309 Scenic Drive, Sunday evening, aged 69 years. She passed away
February 5, 1911.</P>
<P>" The funeral services are being held this afternoon at the residence, Rev.
H. J. Van Fossen officiating, the deceased haven been a member of the Methodist
Church since childhood.</P>
<P></P>
<P>"Mary J. Powell was born in St. Louis, Missouri, February 26,1843, and
crossed the plains with her family and settled in a valley near Portland where
Gresham stands. It was named in honor of her father and his brothers, "Powell’s
Valley!" They were the first settlers on August 27, 1862. She was united in
marriage with Franklin Kittredge and accompanied him to California where they
remained two years. Returning to Multnomah County, Mr. Kittredge taught school
for many years. Both were engaged for four years at the Yakima reservation at
Fort Simcoe, where he was superintendent and she was matron of the Indian
school. Later they resided in Powell’s Valley, then at Corvallis and Monroe and
then at Silver Lake, Oregon where Mr. Kittredge died.</P>
<P>"The deceased had resided for several years with her children and arrived in
Ashland at Christmas time enroute to Oakland, California. She was taken ill with
spinal meningitis and had recovered when stricken with apoplexy.</P>
<P>"She leaves eight living children, as follows: Prof. Herbert Kittredge of
Antioch, California: Walter Kittredge, Silver Lake, Oregon: Wm. Kittredge, Lota
Wallace, Corvallis, Oregon: Emma Mahoney, Oakland, California: Daisy Porter and
May Porter, Ashland, Oregon: and Mary Kittredge, Medford, Oregon.</P>
<P>"First and second generation Powells, prolific pioneers of Oregon, dominate
the cemetery. The monument of Jackson Powell (1816-1890) bears the inscription,
’Settled Powell Valley, 1848.’ James Powell (1818-1896) and his wife, Eliza
(1833-1904) lies nearby.</P>
<P>"Dr. John P. Powell was cremated, but his wife, Adaline Powell (1826- 1913)
is buried there, as are Nancy R. Powell, ‘Baby,’ and Dr. Fleetwood Powell
(1855-1882), son of Dr. J. P. and Adaline Powell"—from <I>Oregon Journal,</I>
Portland, Oregon, Tuesday, August 5, 1958.</P><B>
<P>Death of Mr. James Powell</P>
<P></B>"Mr. James Powell, and old resident of East Portland and pioneer of 1851,
died at Long Beach, California at 12 o’clock Thursday night. News of the death
was received yesterday morning by his sons in East Portland. The remains will be
brought here this morning for interment. Mr. Powell had been in very poor health
for some time, and had been out in the mountains at McIntyre’s place before
going to the seaside. He was subject to severe attacks of asthma and at times
his sufferings were intense. He went to the coast Wednesday with three of his
daughters and his son-in-law, but the climate did not agree with him. Mr. Powell
came to Oregon in 1851 from California. He returned to Missouri and then brought
his family to Oregon in 1852. Some of his brothers had already arrived. He and
his brothers were the first to make their way into what is now known as the
Powell Valley, cutting a road out to Gresham, the famous section being named
from the families. </P>
<P>"Mr. Powell belonged to a hardy class of pioneers who helped to develop the
country. He has been a familiar figure in East Portland for many years and will
be greatly missed. He leaves a widow and 11 grown children, besides numerous
relatives. </P>
<P>"Mr. Powell was a member of Washington Lodge, A.F.A.M. and it is expected
that this lodge will have charge of the funeral and that the remains will be
buried at Gresham,"—from <I>The Oregonian</I>, Saturday, July 12, 1896.</P><B>
<P>"Dr. J. P. Powell Physician</P></B>
<P>--by <I>Marion Dudley Eling</P></I>
<P>"No story of early days in Powell Valley and Gresham would be complete
without mention of Dr. John P. Powell and his wife, Adaline D. Powell. It would
indeed be impossible to even start the tale without including them, as their
home was one of the center from which the community grew. They came among the
earliest and lived over half a century in the land of their choice.</P>
<P>"John Parker Powell was born October 4, 1822, in Gatesville County, North
Carolina. At the age of 10 years he went in 1844, after receiving his doctor’s
degree, he married Adaline Duvall, the daughter of a family of stock-raisers who
had moved to Missouri from Kentucky. </P>
<P>"As everybody knows, 1852 was the year of heavy emigration from Missouri to
the Oregon territory. The Duvalls, fired by the tales of the wondrous wealth in
the west, sacrificed their large holdings and started west with the endless
chain of prairie schooners making the journey. In the old diary kept by Dr.
Powell is the story of the long lines of emigrants wending their way down banks
of the Platte River. There too is the record of the threats and depredations of
the fierce Sioux and Comanche; of cattle run off by the Indians, of a woeful
lack of food and water, of oxen dropping in their tracks for lack of pasture
because of the heavy emigration, of herds of buffalo grazing on the far slopes,
of antelope running through the mountain passes, of the ELIZA POWELL Familysad
spectacle of abandoned outfits, the cholera having stricken entire trains. </P>
<P>"It was in the capacity of physician for the Duvall party that Dr. Powell
came, </P>
<P>bringing his young wife, his small son Herman, and two daughters Sarah and
Jennie, now Mrs. S. E. Wishard and Mrs. J. P. Sayles of Portland. The outbreak
of cholera and smallpox was responsible for several deaths in the party. There
were numerous calls on Dr. Powell from other parties. He spent little time with
his young family. Many times he rode back 50 miles or more over the hard-worn
trail to help a sorely distressed traveler, and to preach caution to the
voyagers as to boiling the water they drank.</P>
<P>" ‘Dig you own well,’ Dr. Powell would insist. When water and feed were
scarce and the cholera was raging through the trains he rode along insisting
that each party dig a fresh well for itself at each camping place. It soon
became a part of the day’s work to dig a well. Certain members of a party would
forge ahead, select the camp site for the night and have the well dug and the
water ready for the thirsty wayfarers, oxen and cows. In this way the disease
was kept in control.</P>
<P>"Shortly before the Duvall train reached The Dalles, Dr. Powell was stricken
with mountain fever, brought on by overwork. At The Dalles the cracks in the
wagon were plugged up and the prairie schooners, filled with people and cattle,
became boats. At the Cascades the Powells left the party that the sick man might
rest and recuperate. Upon his partial recovery he practiced medicine there long
enough to pay the exorbitant board bill. He charged Oregon, and not Missouri,
fees. The family spent the winter of 1852 at Columbia Slough with David Powell
camped in his yard. Here Dr. Powell taught school in the log school of District
3, of which he was one of the founders.</P>
<P>"Hearing from James and Jackson Powell of the fine open country to the
southeast, Dr. Powell started through the forest with his wife and babies and
located his Donation Land Claim in the present city of Gresham. The City Bakery
stands on the southeast corner of the claim. The Mow Plywood Co. occupies the
home site.</P>
<P>"His nearest neighbors were James Powell and Stephen Roberts. With Martin
Wing and Charles Reynolds they organized the first school district in Powell
Valley. A log schoolhouse was built on the Charlie Reynolds place. Up there went
the children of Dr. Powell, James Powell and Jackson Powell, as well as the
Cornutt, Cathy, Reynolds and other pioneer families. The nearest church services
were held in Fairview in the home of Dr. John Crosby, Mrs. Martin Roberts’
grandfather. Dr. Powell and Mrs. Powell, each of them carrying a baby, walked to
the church. Small Herman Powell, six years old, walked with them. Others did
likewise.</P>
<P>"Later the services were held at Gresham in the camp meeting grove, where
Mrs. J. N. Clanahan (Minnie Powell) remembers being put to bed in a cabin with
scores of other babies and being awakened by the devout and lusty hymn-singing
of their parents. In these early days the circuit riders, preachers and teachers
were always sure of a hearty welcome beside Dr. Powell’s hearthstone. And as his
own family of 10 children grew up most of them taught school at Pleasant Home,
Cedar, Damascus and other valley points.</P>
<P>"Any project that made for community betterment received from Dr. Powell the
support it deserved. For many years he was superintendent o the Sunday School
here. And while he was guiding the young and old in their spiritual life he was
caring for their bodily needs. For many he was the only physician in the valley
east of Portland. The three generations of forests up in Egypt (Pleasant Home)
he went on black night when he simply gave his horse the reins and let it find
the paths he could not see in the darkness. He was doctor, friend, father, to
these people.</P>
<P>"At one time he was the county coroner. He was appointed one of the viewers
when the Base Line and Section Line road, interested to the last in the welfare
of Gresham, the town that had grown in the Powell Valley at the bend of the
creek.</P>
<P>"During the Civil War times he was one of the leaders of the Republicans.